Front Page News

Ambassador for Down syndrome group will walk the runway this weekend

Last year, Marcus Sikora — a 27-year-old Omaha writer, actor and fashion model with Down syndrome — got to walk the runway with an Oscar-winning actress. This weekend, he’ll walk with another.

Sikora is the 2017 ambassador for the Denver-based Global Down Syndrome Foundation. He’s also a model in the organization’s annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show. The events draw some pretty big names.

Last year, Sikora walked with Hilary Swank.

“Her feet hurt,” he said of the Nebraska-native star of “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby.”

And at Saturday’s show in Denver, Sikora will walk with Marisa Tomei. Sikora actually has prepared a pitch for the actress: He’s in the process of making his magnum opus stage production, “Marcus the Musical,” and there’s a role of a bartender he thinks Tomei would be perfect for.

Sikora also will get to hang out with several other big names at the event, which raises money for research, medical care and advocacy, and receives national press coverage each year.